


In the Shire Reckoning: 1427

by Thuri



Category: Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-09-26
Updated: 2003-09-26
Packaged: 2017-11-08 07:38:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/440807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thuri/pseuds/Thuri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merry has an upsetting conversation with his father.  Pippin comforts him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Shire Reckoning: 1427

**Author's Note:**

> Merry is 45, Pippin is 37, Sam is 47, and Rose is 43. Frodo has been gone for 6 years, the quest has been over for 8. This is part of what is turning into an epic. I don't have a beta reader at the moment, so if anyone likes this enough to read gobs more that isn't as polished, please let me know! Oh, and everything I've written so far is post trilogy, so many spoilers.

1427: Will Whitfoot resigns. Samwise is elected Mayor of the Shire. King Elessar issues an edict that Men are not to enter the Shire, and he makes it a Free Land under the protection of the Northern Sceptre.  
Early May

Merry strode quickly through the field, shoulders hunched, hands shoved deeply in his pockets. His father’s words still echoed in his mind.

“You know I don’t care who you lie with, be it lad, lass, or dancing bear!” Saradoc waved a hand, dismissing his son’s sexual proclivities. “But you are to be Master of Buckland after me and that means you need a legitimate heir. I won’t see the office go to the addlepated son of Berilac! And Paladin Took feels the same way about the Thainship! Unless you and Peregrin have figured out a way to have each other’s children, you must get married. And soon!” His impressive roar was at full volume.

“But . . . “ Merry started.

“No buts!” His father’s gaze softened a bit and his voice turned quieter. “I am sorry for it, Merry, for I know how it is between you and Pippin. If you were anyone else’s sons you know it wouldn’t matter. But the two of you have a duty to your families and your people. We’ve let it go this long, and now there’s talk in the Shire. You have no choice, Meriadoc. You must do your duty.”

He stood his ground. “You told me long ago I wouldn’t have to marry until I needed an heir. I don’t see why I need one now.”

Saradoc sank back into his chair, looking very tired. Merry realized with a sudden shock that his father looked much older than his 87 years. “No, I don’t suppose you would,” Saradoc said softly. He leaned across the desk, fixing Merry with a hard stare. “What I tell you now goes no further, agreed?”

Merry shook his head, trying to clear his father’s words from his mind. He kicked at a rock in the ground and sighed, hunching his shoulders further. He knew Saradoc was right, but that didn’t make it any easier to accept. ‘And how am I to tell my Pippin I must share him with a lass? And how am I to find a lass willing to share me with him?’

He reached the trees he’d been heading for, down by the creek and dropped to the ground. He leaned his back against a tree and stared up through its branches. Tears filled the corners of his eyes and trailed back into his hair. ‘It’s not fair!’ he wailed silently.

It wasn’t fair, but then he’d had ample evidence in his life that not much was. Frodo and Sam had loved each other, too. Merry still shuddered to remember the lost look in Sam’s eyes as the white ship sailed away, taking Frodo with it. And how he and Pippin had struggled to get him back on his pony and headed for home. They’d had to lead Bill the whole way. Not that Sam fought them, quite the opposite. He simply wouldn’t move. It was as if his body was but an empty shell, and Sam himself somewhere far away. Merry knew that if he and Pippin hadn’t been there, Sam would never have left. Oh, he seemed well enough now, happy with Rose and their many children. But both Merry and Pippin knew a part of him had stayed on that dock, was still standing there, yearning after the departed ship. ‘I doubt many realize he’s not the same Sam he was. Any who had noticed would think it was the quest. He hides it well. But Pip and I know him better than anyone but Frodo did. How could we not, all we’ve been through?’ He sighed, remembering Frodo’s words.

“He’s torn in two with me here, Merry.” Frodo had said, blue eyes bright with tears. “And I know he loves Rosie so. My leaving will make it easier for him.”

And Merry had kept quiet, knowing Frodo had to leave anyway. He could no longer live in the Shire after what he’d been through. ‘But the Sam who rode with you to the havens wasn’t the same Sam who came back.’

Merry scrubbed at his eyes, for his tears continued unabated. The hair above his ears was getting soaked. ‘At least it won’t be as bad as that for us,’ he thought dully. ‘It’s not as if Pip is leaving Middle Earth. We’ll still see each other.’ In a way, though, that seemed worse to him. To see Pippin, be near him, and be prevented by social constraints, even in private, from taking him in his arms, kissing him fiercely and then tumbling together in the sheets until he lost track of where one left off and the other began . . . He shivered. ‘I wish we dared leave. We’re still knights. Eomer and Strider would take us in. And I would dearly love to see Eowyn again. What is it to the Big Folk if we share a bed?’ He squeezed his eyes shut against more tears, knowing his thoughts were folly. He and Pippin wouldn’t leave the Shire for the same reason they must eventually marry. They were their fathers’ only heirs. ‘I love my da and mum too much to do that to them. Too much to leave them like that. And after what Da told me today, how could I? So no escaping to the south for us. There’s no help for it. We’ll just have to get married . . . and be separated.’

His mind went back over the years to all the times they’d sworn to be together forever, to never leave each other. His bitter vigil at the end of the last battle rose in his mind. He’d sat at Pippin’s bedside for hours, holding the limp hand, talking to the motionless form, until his voice was nothing but a cracked whisper. And then finally, when he’d lost all hope, he’d been rewarded by the brilliant green of Pippin’s eyes, open and looking at him. They’d clung to each other as best they could, considering Pippin’s wounds, regardless of the others in the room. His voice had rasped in his own ears as he’d begged Pippin never to leave him again. And Pippin had promised, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Merry closed his mouth against a sob. ‘Pippin will no more leave me than I could leave him. But what choice do we have?’

“Oi! Merry, are you there?”

Merry wiped his eyes quickly and forced a smile to his face. Time enough later to worry about the future. “Down here, Pip,” he replied.

Pippin’s tousled curls appeared over the ridge and he hurried down the bank to Merry’s side. The two hugged each other tightly. Their lips met in a lingering kiss, a promise of things to come. Merry clung to him, feeling Pippin’s hands run up through his hair, then stop suddenly. His lips felt bereft as Pippin pulled away.

“What’s this, Merry, love?” Pippin asked, concern on his face. “You’ve been crying.”

“ ‘Course I haven’t, Pip,” Merry said lightly, trying to put cheer in his tone.

“You mean ‘course you have,” Pippin replied. “Your eyes are all red, and you have tear tracks here, and here,” he said, tracing lines from the corners of Merry’s eyes across his temples to above his ears. “And your hair is drenched.”

Merry pulled away from him and collapsed back on the ground, again leaning his back against the tree. “So I’ve been crying. What of it?”

“Oh, Merry,” Pippin said softly, sitting beside him and pulling Merry’s head down to his shoulder, running his fingers through the soft blond curls, “Why, love? What’s happened?”

“I missed you, Pip,”

“Well, and I missed you, but that’s not the answer. For I’m here with you now and you’re still upset.”

“I had a talk with my father this morning, before I left.” Merry said, trying to sound off hand and failing miserably.

“What did he say to get you in this state, love?”

Merry pulled away and looked at him, gray eyes meeting green. “No more than usual. Let’s forget about it, Pip.”

“I’ll not forget. But I won’t talk about it any more right now if you’d rather.” He drew Merry in for another deep kiss. “I have missed you, love. I can’t stand the time without you.”

Merry’s eyes clouded again. “You’ll have to learn, Pip,” he said, turning away. “We both will. The time will come that . . . “ His voice choked off.

Pippin put his arm around Merry, drawing him close. “What are you talking about, Merry Brandybuck? Why would I ever have to learn to live without you?”

Merry sighed. “Be serious, Pippin. You know what our fathers have been on about. We’ll both have to get married eventually.”

Pippin was silent for a moment. So this was the heart of it. It was true enough that his father had been harping on him to find a bride, but he hadn’t paid it much attention. His parents had been saying the same thing since he’d returned from Gondor eight years ago. “And what if we do?” he asked. “Why can’t we stay together?”

“Oh, Pippin,” Merry groaned. “What lass do you know that will agree to that? To live with her husband and his lover? And we need not one but two! Where are we going to find them? There is no chance for us, Pippin. None. I love you with all my heart and soul and every breath of my body, and it isn’t enough. Elbereth help me, it is not enough.” Tears were running freely down his cheeks. “Our parents are right. We’re going to be separated no matter what.”

“No, we’re not, Merry,” Pippin said, forcing the older hobbit to meet his eyes. “We’ll think of something. We love each other. Everything will turn out.” He wiped away the tears. “Trust me.”

“With my life,” Merry replied instantly. “But, Pip, . . . “

”Shhh.” Pippin replied. “Now that I know what’s ailing you, will you no let me help?” He kissed the tears away. “I’ve sworn to be with you forever, Merry-my-love. You’re not getting rid of me this easily. We’ll find the way out of this. I swear.”

Looking into the bottomless green depths of his eyes, wrapped securely in his arms, Merry could almost believe it. He traced the edge of Pippin’s jaw with a trembling finger. “I love you, Peregrin Took,” he said softly.

“I know.” Pippin pulled him close, kissing him deeply. Their tongues danced together, exploring familiar territory. He broke away. “I love you.” He grinned. “And I haven’t seen you in more than a week. And you are wearing entirely too many clothes.”

Merry managed a shaky grin. “So are you.”

“Aye, then let’s remedy that,” Pippin replied, his hands busy with the buttons of Merry’s weskit as he kissed him.

“Here?” Merry, asked, pulling back.

“And why not? It’s finer than many a place we’ve slept. We’ll just spread our cloaks out and . . . uhm,” He waved a hand suggestively. “Unless you’ve gone shy on me?”

Merry took Pippin’s mouth savagely in answer. His fingers fumbled with the leaf clasp of Pippin’s cloak, even as Pippin released his own. “Pip, how’d you ever get this open with your hands tied?” he asked, when the clasp finally sprang free.

“I didn’t have you in my lap distracting me with lewd motions,” Pippin replied, grinding his hips against Merry’s. He grinned, then stood and spread the cloaks out beneath the tree. He lay back on them, and Merry could see his arousal press against the thin fabric of his breeches. “Join me?”

Merry did so with a growl, determined to make the most of the time left to them. His lips again found Pippin’s as they returned to fighting with each other’s buttons.

Pippin finished first, and pushed Merry’s shirt, weskit, and coat off his shoulders. As Merry let them slip down his arms, Pippin dived forward, knocking him to his back and pressing him down. “Oh Merry, you are fine to look on,” Pippin breathed, pressing kisses against his love’s closed eyelids. “And all my own.”

Merry arched his back, pressing his hardened length against Pippin’s thigh through the layers of fabric between them. “Yours,” he answered softly.

Pippin kissed him, pulling off his own shirt. Merry gasped as their bare chests pressed together, then gripped Pippin to him and flipped them both over. He sat up, straddling Pippin’s thighs. “You, Imp, are beautiful,” he said, gazing down at his love.

“Love, how can you still think so?” Pippin asked, blushing a bit.

“Because I’ve got eyes,” Merry replied, trailing his fingers down Pippin’s chest. “And you are, so don’t argue.” He circled Pippin’s nipples with his fingertips, then pinched them as he ground his hips against him. Pippin moaned aloud.

Merry replaced his fingers with his mouth, sucking and licking Pippin’s nipples one after the other, until they both stood out from his chest. “Oh, Merry, . . . “ Pippin breathed.

“What?” Merry asked, running his hands down Pippin’s sides, down and into the waistband of his trousers. “This?” he asked, pulling them down and off in one stroke.

Pippin just moaned as his cock sprang free. Merry wrapped his fist around it, stroking gently as he gazed down into bright green eyes. “More,” Pippin ordered.

“What do you want?”

“Your mouth, Merry.”

Merry complied, bringing his lips down and kissing the tip of Pippin’s cock, already leaking fluid. He licked it up, and Pippin let out a strangled gasp. Merry grinned, before engulfing the cock before him, sucking it into his mouth. Pippin cried out, his hips lifting off the ground. He buried his hands in Merry’s hair. Merry twirled his tongue up and down, around the hard length. He lost himself in the taste, the sensation of Pippin in his mouth. One hand came up to cup his balls. He rolled them gently in his hand as Pippin increased his pace. “Merry,” he gasped, “I’m going to . . . “

Merry concentrated on keeping the pace, keeping the suction, and then Pippin came with a cry, collapsing back to the ground. “That was wonderful,” he managed, as Merry lay back beside him. They kissed, and Pippin tasted himself in Merry’s mouth. “I have missed you,” he said, gazing up into the gray-blue eyes of his love.

Merry gathered him close. “I know, Pip.”

They kissed again, slowly, lingeringly, a dance of tongue against tongue, exploring the confines of each other’s mouths. Pippin ran his hands down the long muscles of Merry’s back, surprised when they encountered fabric. “Oi! You still have clothes on! Lay back now and let me take care of that.”

Merry laughed but did as he was told. Pippin made short work of the buttons and pulled Merry’s breeches down and off. He spent such a long time just gazing down that Merry became self conscious and started to blush. “And he calls me beautiful,” he heard Pippin mutter. “Pot calling the kettle black, I’d say.”

He grinned, and pulled Pippin down on top of him. “It’s not fair to undress me and not do anything about it, Pip.”

“What would you like me to do it about it, Merry?” he asked, running a finger over his lips.

Merry bit playfully at the finger. “I don’t suppose you brought any oil?”

Pippin grinned, then wriggled away to search through his coat pockets. “I invited you to meet me in a secluded location when I haven’t seen you for a week and you think I’d forget?” He placed the small bottle in Merry’s hand. “Ravish me, Master Brandybuck.”

“If you insist, Master Took.”

Pippin lay back on the cloaks and spread his legs, looking up at Merry with trust and love in his eyes. Wondering yet again just what he’d done to deserve it, Merry un-stoppered the oil and spread some on his fingers. He reached beneath Pippin’s by now rehardened cock, and pressed one finger slowly into him. Pippin pressed up against him, his lips formed into a silent oh. Merry quickly added a second finger, moving them both inside him and curling them forward until Pippin shuddered and gasped beneath him. “Oh, Merry! Get in me!”

Merry chuckled, then withdrew his fingers. Pippin whimpered, but was soon rewarded as Merry replaced them with his oiled cock. He slid in as slowly as he could stand, watching Pippin writhe beneath him. Finally, he was buried to the hilt, the tight, hot sheath of his lover all around him. “I love you so, Pip,” he said, pulling back and thrusting forward.

Pippin locked his ankles behind Merry’s back, matching him thrust for thrust. “And I love you,” he replied. “Kiss me.”

Merry did, as their pace became ever faster and more frantic. He thrust in and out, in and out, until his world was only Pippin beneath him. He grasped Pippin’s cock in one hand, matching the thrusts of his body. They moved strongly together, until Pippin spilled his seed over Merry’s hand. The feeling of Pippin’s muscles clenching down and convulsing all around him pushed him over the edge. Merry came in a roar that was swallowed up in Pippin’s kiss.

They held each other tight as they gradually came back down to earth. Merry slipped out and collapsed to the ground. Pippin squirmed out from under him, and produced a handkerchief from somewhere to clean them both up. Then he lay back beside Merry and pulled one of the cloaks over them. “That was nice, wasn’t it?” he asked softly.

“It was. Always is, with you, Pip,” The lovemaking had temporarily made him forget his earlier thoughts, but now they came crowding back. Merry frowned a bit, wishing he could be free in the moment and Pippin wrapped all around him.

“Don’t think on it, Merry,” Pippin said drowsily. “We won’t let it happen, because I can’t give this up. I can’t lose you to a lass. We’ll go back to Gondor if we have to.”

“But Pip, what about our parents?” Merry asked, a heavy weight settling on his chest.

“They’ll do what they’d have done if we hadn’t come back from the quest. We both have an embarrassment of cousins who’d be more than happy to be named heirs,” Pippin replied. “Oh, I’m not saying I want to leave, but I’d do it before I’d give you up.” He nuzzled Merry’s neck with his lips. “You’re my life.”

Merry’s arms closed around him. “And you’re mine, Pip. I guess we’ll just have to find a way.”

Pippin raised his head and looked into Merry’s eyes, glistening with unshed tears. “We will. For I’ll not lose you. Not again.”


End file.
